The Session #40: Session Beers

This month’s Session, hosted by Top Fermented, is all about Session beers. I hear this term a lot and despite its ubiquity, I haven’t really gotten a solid definition of what a session beer really is. Beer Advocate defines a session beer as:

Any beer that contains no higher than 5 percent ABV, featuring a balance between malt and hop characters (ingredients) and, typically, a clean finish – a combination of which creates a beer with high drinkability. The purpose of a session beer is to allow a beer drinker to have multiple beers, within a reasonable time period or session, without overwhelming the senses or reaching inappropriate levels of intoxication. (Yes, you can drink and enjoy beer without getting drunk.)

Sounds a lot like your typical American Macro lager, no? This is unfortunate as the qualities, characteristics and culture associated with American Macro lagers, which many craft beer drinkers see in a negative light, are often transferred to lower alcohol, sessionable, and tasty American craft beer. It’s guilty by association and it’s not fair.

I would suppose my very first experience with a session beer was with Newcastle Brown Ale. I was going through a phase where I was binge drinking more than session drinking but in retrospect, I think I was doing more of the latter and just didn’t know it. I’d show up to my local at around 6pm and not leave until after 12am, sometimes closer to 1am; during the entire time I’d be putting back pint after pint of Newcastle. Repeat for the next 6 consecutive days, stopping only on Sunday to rest the liver. This went on for about 2 years, or something like that.

It was during these long sessions that I gained a new “best friend”, although the term “best friend” seems limiting as it implies there can be only one; the one who rises above all others. This certainly isn’t true as I’ve found out “best friends” tend to arise as you need them. Some stay for the long haul and some leave as soon as the situation no longer warrants their support. Sounds callous but think about all the people you’ve been “tight” with and in what situations those were. Some of these relationships may have been intense and vibrant but as soon as the situation changed, the relationship changed. It’s not a good or bad thing, life happens. My buddy has since moved to another city and I am only able to see him a few times a year but the connection is always there; no one can take away the bonds created during our extended session drinking.

Or maybe it’s just me. Maybe it’s a sign that I’m no good at maintaining relationships.

But this is what I think is missing from the discussion of session beers: the social aspect. Everyone makes a big fuss about low alcohol while referencing some vague English tradition of drinking for hours on end. The reality of a session beer, or what I think the reality of what a session beer should be, is that it is low on alcohol purposely to keep the focus on the social occasion at the time. As Wikipedia puts it:

Session drinking is drinking in large quantities over a single period of time, or session, without the intention of getting heavily intoxicated. Unlike binge drinking, the focus is on the social aspects of the occasion.

Session drinking is essentially the guts of the craft beer movement; make something delicious, flavorful and interesting and share it with your friends, not to get hammered but to enjoy good beer in good company. Even if I’m not drinking a session-strength beer but one of those high alcohol “extreme” beers, I am doing so in limited quantities with my friends; it’s not a true session beer by any definition but the experience becomes sessionable.

This brings me to my next point, something that I’ve had on my mind recently and probably something I could devote an entire post to: why aren’t session beers more popular; especially with regard to “special occasion” beers? It seems to me that whenever a brewery wants to do a special beer, whether its a collaborative beer or an anniversary beer, they always make them Imperial. Take for instance this year’s SF Beer Week where the festival beer was a collaborative Imperial Common. It was a good beer but why did they have to “imperialize” it? Couldnt’ they just make a regular one really well? I mean, if all it takes to make something special is to “imperialize” it, we should all make a beeline towards our nearest Burger King and don a paper crown. King me!

I think there should be a conscious movement to swing the pendulum the other direction; brewers should start to “sessionize” their beers. After all, session beers are just lower in alcohol, not low in flavor. One of my favorite session beers is the Bitter American from 21st Amendment. Steve Donohue brewed up a session-strength English Mild he named “Cluster Fuggle” that just few out of the brewery. If made well, and flavorful, there’s no reason a session beer can’t be a fiscal, as well as critical, success.

Related posts:

1. Announcing The Session #31: Summer Beers I remember being a kid and riding my bike everywhere...
2. Session 32: Eastern Beers Way back in the 15th century, a crazy Italian had...
3. The Session & Hopinions Mashup: New Beers Resolutions From: Peter at BetterBeerBlog The last Hopinions I hosted I...
4. The Session #31: Summer Beers I initially suggested the topic of Summer Beers because no...
5. The Session #31: Summer Beer Roundup I’d like to thank everyone for participating in this month’s...